Mitigation of black carbon emissions could immediately reduce 6.3% of glacier melting in the Qilian Mountains

Global warming in tandem with surface albedo reduction caused by black carbon(BC)deposition on glaciers accelerated glacier melting;however,their respective contributions remain unclear.Glaciers in the Qilian Mountains are crucial for the development of oases in the Hexi Corridor;however,their area has decreased by more than 20%over the past half-century.Thus,this study developed a dynamic deposition model for light-absorbing particles(LAPs),coupled with a surface energy and mass balance model.We comprehensively assessed the effects of BC and warming on the melting of a typical glacier in the Qilian Mountains based on the coupled model.BC on the glacier surface caused 13.1%of annual glacier-wide melting,of which directly deposited atmospheric BC reduced the surface albedo by 0.02 and accounted for 9.1%of glacier melting.The air temperature during 2000-2010 has increased by 1.5℃ relative to that during the 1950s,accounting for 51.9%of current glacier melting.Meanwhile,BC emission have increased by 4.6 times compared to those of the early Industrial Revolution recorded in an ice core,accounting conservatively for 6.3%of current glacier melting.Mitigating BC emissions has a limited influence on current glacier melting;however,in the long-term,mitigation should exert a noteworthy impact on glacier melting through the self-purification of glaciers.

CH_(4) and C0_(2) observations from a melting high mountain glacier,Laohugou Glacier No.12

With global warming,glaciers in the high mountains of China are retreating rapidly.However,few data have been reported on whether greenhouse gases from these glaciers are released into the atmosphere or absorbed by glacial meltwater.In this study,we collected meltwater and ice samples from Laohugou Glacier No.12 in western China and measured CH_(4)and CO_(2)concentrations.Meltwater from the glacier terminus was continually sampled between 3 and 5 August 2020 to measure CH_(4)and CO_(2)concentrations.The results demonstrated that meltwater is a source of CH_(4)because the average saturations are over 100%.It could be con eluded that CH_(4)in the atmosphere can be released by glacial meltwater.However,the CO_(2)saturations are various,and CO_(2)fluxes exhibit positive(released CO_(2))or negative(absorbed CO_(2))values because the water and atmospheric conditions are variable.More importantly,the CH_(4)and CO_(2)concentrations were higher in meltwater samples from the glacier terminus than in samples from the surface ice(including an ice core)and a surface stream.Although the meltwater effect from the upper part of the glacier cannot be excluded,we speculated that subglacial drainage systems with an anaerobic environment may represent the CH_(4)source,but it needs to be further investigated in the future.However,high mountain glaciers are currently ignored in global carbon budgets,and the increased melting of glaciers with global warming may accelerate the absorption of much more CO_(2)and lead to the release of CH_(4).